The Flu
by Sam.L.Murray
Summary: Kibbs, Kates caught the flu, but insisted on coming to work. CHAPTER THREE finally finished the story is now concluded : finally lol
1. Chapter 1

**hey everyone, this is my second go at a kibbs piece, and unrelated to the first, please tell me what you think afterwards, i'm always striving to improve.**

**disclaimer: nothing you might recognise belongs to me**

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Kate stumbled out of the elevator, and slowly hobbled to her desk. The bright lights making her already bad headache worse. She collapsed into her chair glad for the rest, her head throbbing, she blew her nose for the fiftieth time that morning.

"Jeez Kate, you look awful, why on earth didn't you call in sick?" McGee's ever irritating voice cut into her head like a knife into butter.

"Ohhh Kate, hot date last night... oooh what happened to you?" and then to top it off it seems that DiNozzo had rounded the corner, "stay away from me and we'll get on fine today." he sat at his desk and stared at Kate, she really didn't look good, her face was really pale, almost white, her eyes were all puffy and her nose was red from the amount of times she'd blown it. The only response she managed was a half-hearted groan with the general tone of 'shut up Tony'.

"McGee, down to Abby's lab, DiNozzo, the director wants to speak to you." and then the tall, silver haired man stopped, while the boys scurried off to do there tasks, Gibbs fixed kate with one of his unique gazes. "Kate why are you here?" All she managed was a gesture at the case files scattered on her desk. Gibbs sighed and moved forward so he was stood directly in front of her desk, "You actually drove to work in that condition?" she inclined her head, before sneezing over her desk,

"Uurgh, look, we've got a case to finish Gibbs, i can't be sick."

"I'm calling Abby, shes going to take you home, your going to go to bed and i refuse to let you step foot in this building until you are 100 better, am i clear?" Kate just nodded in agreement, she couldn't really argue, she felt like death warmed up and she had to agree that she felt absurd trying to work in this state.

He'd never seen Kate this ill before, she'd had colds, bad headaches but nothing that she would let stop her doing her job, just the fact that she had agreed with him without so much as a but made his chest knot in worry, and yet her determination to make her still try and come in made him swell with pride and... something else, something that felt so right and... no he wasn't going there, he just couldn't let it go there.

A quarter of an hour later, Abby arrived to take Kate home, she wrapped her up in her coat and gave her a big hug, but just before they left Gibbs took her to the side for a quiet word.

"Look, just get her home and into bed, make sure she has something to eat and drink, and do NOT let her get out of bed, ok?"

"Sure Gibbs, buts what with all the concern its so un... Gibbsish" All he managed was to fix her with a stare that would stop any other peron delving further, however Abby's eyes widened, "Ohhh, i see... you .. you have feelings for kate?" Abby dared to say, anybody else would have then ran for cover and asked for a transfer abroad where it was a certainty that Gibbs could never find them, but not Abby, Gibbs now fixed her with the glare that had turned the hardest of criminals into simpering fools, the only effect was that Abbys eyes grew wider, "Oh My God!" she coverd her mouth with her hands, "its more than just felings isn't it?"

"Abby, you'd better fast track out of here before i eat you alive!"

"But Gibbs, this is so... so... AMAZING!!!"

"Abbs, go!"

"Fine Gibbs, i understand, your secret is safe with me!" she winked at him, and went back over to Kate and led her towards the elevator, risking glances back towards Gibbs every 5 seconds or so. Gibbs hoped to god that Abby really did understand, because no matter what he felt, he couldn't let Kate know, more likely than not she wouldn't return his feelings and it would make team relations harder, or he would lose one of the best agents at NCIS to another team, and, he dared to let himself think, even if she did return his feelings, how would it work? Romance between agents never worked... it was his own rule, but he still couldn't put out that little light of hope in his heart that it could work. Often when he would work on his boat, he would think up scenarios in which they could be together, where she felt about him, the way he felt about her.

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**Ok, so thats chapter one, please tell me what you think, i'll try to add the next chapter soon, which will be slightly more from kates POV**

**please reveiw**

**Sam Murray**


	2. Chapter 2

**ok, so heres chapter two. I really apolagise (did i spell that right?) so much for how long it took to get it written and published and i hope you forgive me because 1.) i'm pretty lazy and 2.) i've been really caught up with exams**

**However i now have just over a week free with nothing to do and only about 3 exams left so i'm going to sit down and write the next couple of chapters :) hopefully the third chapter won't take quite so long for me to get round to writing.**

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The journey back to Kate's apartment was pretty much uneventful, Abby had spent the whole journey engaging Kate in an almost single sided conversation about whether her parents would like McGee when she took him to meet them at the weekend, it seemed her main concern lay with the fact that he couldn't use sign language very effectively and some how always made a polite request, such as could you pass the salt or may i use your bathroom, into an insult, no matter how many times Abby went over it with him. If Kate had been honest, she wasn't really in the mood to care, but then again, she wasn't in the mood to complain.

Within minutes of reaching Kate's building, she was bundled into bed and a bowl of steaming chicken soup had been thrust in her face. Without any complaints she managed to consume the bland tasting and watery concoction and was on her way into a deep slumber.

Abby unsure of the exact nature of her instructions stayed at Kate's apartment and decided to watch the next episode of "Stargate: Atlantis" which she had missed, but on all accounts had been one heck of a good installment. It wasn't long however before the shrill ring of her phone prevented her from admiring the muscles of the character "Ronon Dex". She flipped open her phone but didn't even manage to say hello.

"Abbs, can you get back down here we need you to go over a few items we've just collected."

"Sure Gibbs, Kates asleep, and i think she will be for a while so i'm free."

"Hows she doing?" Gibbs was unable, for once in his life, to hide the concern that was riddled in his voice. Abby just grinned to herself,

"She's in a pretty bad state, and i hate to say this Gibbs, but, i think shes getting worse too, this morning was just the start of it."

"Right... " Gibbs' really was unable to hide the worry in his voice at all this time, "you get back down here, i'll..." he took in a deep breath, "I'll come over and watch her when i've tidied these files up, Tony should be able to handle this anyway." Then the phone went dead, Abby was becoming pretty worried about Gibbs, she'd never seen him take such concern over anyone before, when tony had, had the flu he wasn't half as worried and all Gibbs'd done was send round a chicken soup, which at that point in time seemed to be the full extent of Gibbs' concern for anyone. But now, now he sounded so worried, anybody else who knew Gibbs would probably assume that someone like Ducky, or Abby was in hospital and had a huge chance of not coming out alive.

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Gibbs arrived at Kate's apartment block about 5 minutes after Abby had left and made his way through the building to Kate's front door, he let himself in and just stood and took in the whole space for a minute or two. It was exactly like Gibbs had anticipated it would be like, organised, clean and with just a touch of unordiliness that proved it was actually inhabited. He made his way through the apartment until he came to a door that he assumed was Kate's bedroom. He eased the door open and peered round and was met with the sight of Kate, pale and clammy looking, but asleep and slightly less haggard than she had been at 8:00am that morning.

A lump formed in his throat, and his chest knotted as he moved toward her and could truly see what a state she was in. He knelt beside her bed and gripped her hand, he couldn't help himself, he just couldn't stop himself from caring. Her hand was warm to the touch and slightly sweaty. Without really being aware of what he was doing, he brought his other hand up to brush back a few stray locks of hair that had fallen down her face. It then all became suddenly so real that he was Kate's bedroom, and he took a look around it for the first time, figuring this would probably be his only chance. Mostly the colours were neutral, but it had a definate feminine air about it, there were fresh flowers on the wind'sill that let off a faint fragrance, and there were a few books stacked on the bedside table. Suddenly very concious of where he was, he took one last look over Kate and went to make himself a coffee, before sitting down on her couch and watching some re-runs of the baseball game last night.

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When Kate awoke, she glanced across at her alarm clock and relised she had slept away most of the morning, as it was now, to be precise 11:53. She could her something moving around in her kitchen and assumed that Abby must still be here. Determined that, no matter how good a friend Abby was, she wasn't going to swallow another spoonful of her soup, which she found, frankly, quite revolting, she hauled herself out of bed with all the strength she could muster. As she stood up Kate's head span and she almost fell back down to the bed, but she managed to hold herself together and progressed slowly out her room and to her kitchen.

Kate was quite unprepared for the sight that greeted her when she did finally reach the kitchen. The person rummaging around through her cupboards was not as she had assumed, it wasn't Abby, it was her boss. The revelation that her boss, whom she had harboured strong feelings for, for quite a while, was in her apartment, in her kitchen, sent her head spinning again and she clutched at the door frame for support, surely she must be having delusions brought on by this bought of flu.

When the sound of Kate falling against the door frame reached Gibbs' ears he spun around and caught sight of her, pale and helpless, in the doorway.

"Hey, why aren't you in bed?" It was a tone of voice Kate had never heard him use before, soft and gentle, and honest. She couldn't help but raise a small, half-hearted smile, touched by his concern. He stood up and started moving towards her.

"Couldn't sleep." she replied, unsure of what excuse to give as it turned out it wasn't Abby making another batch of soup.

"C'mon then." He guided her with a hand around her waist through the large arch at the other side of her kitchen and helped her sit down on her couch. Her heart had fluttered when he put his arm around her waist, and she was more than happy to let her perfect man help her to the couch. The fact that he hadn't taken her back to bed, like Abby or DiNozzo would have done, but knew shed rather sit and watch a little TV for now made her heart swell with gratitude at his understanding.

Unsure of what to do now Gibbs said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Err... you hungry? 'Cus i think that um... Abby left some chicken soup in the kitchen... and..." Kates pale face was tinged with green and she was starting to balk. Gibbs ran into the kitchen, grabbed the first bowl he found and managed to get it to Kate just as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the glass mixing bowl that two days before had been used to make cookies. She grimaced apolagettically at Gibbs.

"Please don't make me eat that stuff again." she croaked. One of Gibb's signature grins graced his face,

"That bad huh?" A small smile made its way to kates face,

"Just a bit"

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**ok, so thats chapter two, it was going to be slightly longer, but i figured i'll just add it to the next chapter, i think i spelt apolagettically wrong too... if someone can please give the correct spelling of that word i would be eternally grateful. **

**Somewhere near the middle i used the word wind'sill i hope most of you managed to figure out that this meant windowsill, just its a bit of a colloquilism and i feel weird saying/typing windowsill. Virtual cookies too anyone who figures out which part of britain i'm from ;) **

**ok... i'll try and get chapter three up soon as, i promise, (maybe if i get enough reviews i'll be urged too faster ;P )**

sam


	3. Chapter 3

**well finally here it is the third and final chapter of "the flu" i hope you enjoy it :)**

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Finally in the end Kate submitted to Gibbs and had something to eat, thankfully it wasn't that awful soup. Gibbs had decided to make her some porridge and after some minor mishaps in her kitchen, including scattering her bag of oats across the kitchen floor, and bringing a stack of saucepans crashing down, Gibbs managed to serve up a nice thick serving of porridge.

"here you go, its not brilliant or anything but it should help settle your stomach... my mum used to make the best porridge... and she'd always serve it with raisens..." aware that he was beginning to ramble he decided to just shut up and hand the bowl over to Kate before sitting quietly at her side.

"Thanks Gibbs, its fine." she smiled faintly at him between spoonfuls of the thick gloop. The rest of her meal went pretty silently, Gibbs making the odd comment about something on the TV. Before long Kate slumped against his shoulder, once again in a deep slumber, he looked down at her, taking in her peaceful angellic expression and before he was aware or could stop himself he had inclined his head and pressed a small kiss to her forehead. He shook his head and slowly got up. Prising the almost empty bowl from Kate's hands he took it back into the kitchen muttering his new mantra of "you are a fool Jethro Gibbs". He returned to the living room and once more couldn't stop himself from having similar thoughts as he gently scooped Kate up his arms. Even though she was asleep, Kate rolled herself into Gibbs' chest and embraced him like an overly large teddy bear. The effect it was having on Gibbs was quite remarkable, his heartbeat was racing, as if he had just finished a 500m sprint and his body temperature had raised more than a few degrees, but the feeling that scared him most was the one that was telling him just to hold her like this forever, to never let her go, to make her feel safe no matter what. He stood like that for many moments savouring the feeling and battling with himself. Eventually he swallowed, hoisted Kate into a more secure position, careful not to wake her, and carried her back to her bedroom.

He gently placed Kate into her bed and spent minutes trying, reluctantly, to get the unconcious Kate to release her grip around him, finally he manage to do so and gently pulled her duvet back up and tucked her in.The defenses he had put up around himself had been crumbling with every passing minute this day, and now he conciously and willing let himself kiss her on the forehead. Unbeknownst to him as he turned away to leave her room, Kate had woken gently from sleep as he had put her in her bed and had felt the kiss he had placed on her forehad, the longing she felt for Gibbs at the moment in time was incredibly strong and managed to overpower her groggy predicament and she called out to him.

Just as he was about to leave the room, the faint call of his name made him turn back and find Kate most definately awake, looking at him n a way he had never seen before, a way that made his heart skipp several beats.

"Stay Gibbs... please." the gentle plead was more than enough to encourage Gibbs, he walked back into the room, gently kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed where he lay down next to her and held her to his chest. Kate obligingly turned into his chest and promptly fell asleep in his arms, feeling secure and her heart soaring. Gibbs' heart was also flying with the birds, finally overpowering his head, something it had never done before. After a few minutes of regarding Kate in her sleep, he too drifted off into an elated sleep, finally with the knowledge that he finally had her he dared to dream things that he had never dreamt before.

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About a week and a half later many heads were turning as Gibbs walked through the office. His only reaction was to grace his lips with a smile that lit up his face. Tony and McGee's chins were probably the furthest to drop as they saw their boss get off the elevator, but their gaumless, open mouthed looks changed almost instantaneously into full face grins as they high fived each other. Abby and Ducky were also in the bullpen at the time, Abby's reaction was to jump up and down,and punch the air shouting "Go Gibbs!" and Ducky's reaction was to smile knowingly.

All Gibbs could do was shake his head good humouredly as he walked into the bullpen, his right arm slung around Kates waist and holding her close

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**And that is the end, if you want to please tell me your thoughts on this peice, constructive criticism is always gratefully received. I was more than a bit iffy on how i finished off the story so i'd love to know what you thought of the last two paragraphs as a conclusion.**

**yours hopefully**

**Samantha Murray**


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